Oakland A's third baseman Matt Chapman is only in the middle of his second season in the big leagues, and he is already one of the best in baseball.
He entered Tuesday as the league leader in defensive WAR (2.7) according to Baseball Reference, and ended it with a throw that may top his already impressive personal highlight reel. In the top of the eighth inning of Oakland's 6-2 win over the Toronto Blue Jays, Chapman back-handed a Yangervis Solarte grounder, and... well, the throw needs to be seen to be believed.
"You want to say [it's] video game-ish, but I don't know that a video game has seen that before," A's manager Bob Melvin told reporters after the game. "Even talking to [Chad] Pinder and [Matt] Olson, the guys that have seen him the most, they're like, 'I don't know what to say about that one.'"
Chapman paced the entire American League in the SABR Defensive Index (SDI) in the first half (17.2), which is used to select the winner of the Gold Glove. He finished the first half of the season 11 points clear of the next closest third baseman (Kyle Seager).
With throws like the one on Tuesday, it's easy to see why.
